Improvement in horseshoe-nail plates



:.FERGUSON. I-IOBSESHOE NAIL-PLATES.

No. 194,768. Patented sept. 4,1877.'

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N.FETERS. PNDTLLITNOGRAPMERI WASHINGTON. 50.

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`v UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES FERGUSON, OF BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDSHIS RIGHT TO JOHN TURNER AND JAMES H. FERGUSON,

OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT lN HORSESHOE-NAIL PLATES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 194,768, datedSeptember 4, 1877; application filed J une 5, 1877.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES FERGUSON, of Bridgewater, in the county ofPlymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Horseshoe- Nail Plates; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description-thereof,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.

My invention relates to improvements in nail-plates for horseshoe-nails;and consists in providing the ordinary ribbed plate with notches orincisions on the outer edges of the ribs, for the purpose ot'facilitating the insertions of the heads of the nail-blanks that areciit from such a plate within the dies of the rolls in which the headand shank of the nail are properly shaped of the desired form. Suchnail-blanks, having tapering heads, allow of their being positively andeasily run in between the recesses or engravings on the rolls, which hasheretofore been dificult to accomplish with nail-blanks having squareheads, on which projecting burrs are generally produced at the sharpcorners thereof by the dullness of the shears or cutting-tools by whichthe said square-headed blanks are cut out. This difficulty is avoided bycutting the nail-blanks oli' from this my improved nailplate, havingnotches or incisions on its outer edges. f

The distance between center to center of each such notch or incision isequal to the width of the head ot' the nailblank, and I prefer to locateeach incision on one side of the nail-plate midway between two incisionson the opposite side of said nail-plate.

The nail-blanks cut 'from this my improved nail-plate have a taperingshank as Well as a tapering head, tapering in opposite directions toeach other.

The nail-blanks are cut from the apex of one incision on one side of theplate to the apex of the'uext incision on the opposite side of theplate. y

The nail-plate is of that kind having parallel ridges ontwo oppositesides, and said ridges may extend on the upper part of the plate only,or on both upper and under parts,

and such a plate in itself forms no part of my invention.

The incisions in the edges of the plate vmay be made in any of thewell-known mannersfor instance, by punching, milling, rolling, shapingSta-without departing from the spirit o2 my invention.

On the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a plan view of myimproved nailplate. Fig. 2 represents a cross-section on the line A Bshown in Fig. l, and Fig. 3 represents the shape ot' a nail-blank cutfrom my improved plate.

Similar letters refer to similar parts wherever they occur on thedifferent parts of the drawings. Y

a represents the ordinary nail-plate, provided with parallel ridges b b,in the usual way.

c c c represent the notches or incisions made in the ridges b b for thepurpose aforesaid.

The dotted lines in Fig. l represent the manner in which the nail-blanksare out of; from the nail-plate-that is to say, from the apex of theincision on one side of the plate to the next apex of the incision onthe opposite side of the plate.

d, in Fig. 3, represents a nail-blank cut oft' from my improvednail-plate, as above set forth 5 and it will be seen that such nailblankhas a tapering shank, d', and a head, b', having tapers c c on eachside, each of the latter tapers representing one-half of the notches c con the nail-plate.

In this manner I produce a nailblank having a tapering head, by whichsuch a nailblank is better prepared for inserting its head within thedies ot' the ro1l,where the desired shape is given to the head andshank.

Having thus fully described the nature and construction of my invention,I wish to secure by Letters Patent, and claim- The herein-describedimproved nail-plate, provided with notches or incisions c c c on itsridges b b, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony `that I claim the foregoing as my own invention I haveafxedl my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES FERGUSON.

Witnesses:

ALBAN ANDEEN, HENRY GHADBOURN.

